Methods of Learning a Foreign Language

Read and discuss the following text.

For as long as people have been learning and teaching languages, there has been continual debate about how to describe the process and what the best ways of doing it are. Much current teaching practice is the direct result of such constructive argument.

There have been some traditional language learning techniques that have been used for many years. In more recent times, there have been five teaching models which have had a strong influence on classroom practice – and which teachers and trainers still refer to. They are Grammar-translation, Audio-lingualism, PPP, Task-Based Learning, and Communicative Language Teaching.

Grammar-translation: this was probably the most commonly used way of learning languages for hundreds of years — and it is still practised in many situations. Practitioners think that, by analysing the grammar and by finding equivalents between the students’ language and the language to be studied, the students will learn how the foreign language is constructed.

It is certainly true that most language learners translate in their heads at various stages anyway, and we can learn a lot about a foreign language by comparing parts of it with parts of our own. But a concentration on grammar-translation stops the students from getting the kind of natural language input that will help them acquire language, and it often fails to give them opportunities to activate their language knowledge. The danger with grammar-translation, in other words, is that it teaches people about the language and doesn't really help them to learn the language itself.

Audio-lingualism: this is the name given to a language-teaching methodology based heavily on behaviourist theories of learning. These theories suggested that much learning is the result of habit formation through conditioning. As a result of this, audio-lingual classes are concentrated on long repetition-drill stages, in which the teacher hoped that the students would acquire good language habits. By rewarding correct production during these repetition phases, students could be conditioned into learning the language.

Audio-lingualism (and behaviourism) went out of fashion because commentators from all sides argued that language learning was far more subtle than just the formation of habits. For example, students are soon able to say things they have never heard or practised before because all humans have the power to be creative in language based on the underlying knowledge they have acquired – including rules, of construction, and a knowledge of when a certain kind or form of language is appropriate. Methodologists were also concerned that in audio-lingualism students were not exposed to real or realistic language.

However, it is interesting to note that drilling is still popular (in a far more limited way) during the Study phase, especially for low-level students.

PPP: this stands for Presentation, Practice and Production. In PPP classes or sequences, the teacher presents the context and situation for the language (e.g. describing a robot), and both explains and demonstrates the meaning and form of the new language (‘can’ and ‘can’t’). The students then practise making sentences with ‘can’ and ‘can’t’ before going on to the production stage in which they talk more freely about themselves (‘I can play the viola but I can’t play the drums’) or other people in the real world (e.g. ‘My girlfriend can speak Spanish’ etc.). As with straight arrows lessons, PPP is extremely effective for teaching simple language at lower levels. It becomes less appropriate when students already know a lot of language, and therefore don't need the same kind of marked presentation.

Task-Based Learning: here the emphasis is on the task rather than the language. For example, students might be encouraged to ask for information about train and bus timetables and to get the correct answers (that is the task). We give them the timetables and they then try and complete the task (after, perhaps, hearing someone else do it or asking for examples of the kind of language they might want to use). When they have completed the task, we can then, if necessary — and only if necessary — give them a bit of language study to clear up some of the problems they encountered while completing the task. Alternatively, we might ask them to write part of a guidebook for their area. When they have completed the task (which will involve finding facts, planning content and writing the brochure etc.), we can then read their efforts and do some language/writing study to help them to do better next time.

It will be noticed immediately that task-based learning sequences fit very neatly into our boomerang lesson description, where language Activation is the first goal and Study comes later if and when appropriate.

Communicative Language Teaching: this was a radical departure from the PPP-type lessons which had tended to dominate language teaching. Communicative Language Teaching has two main strands: the first is that language is not just bits of grammar, it also involves language functions such as inviting, agreeing and disagreeing, suggesting etc., which students should learn how to use. They also need to be aware of the need for appropriacy when talking and writing to people in terms of the kind of language they use (formal, informal, tentative, technical etc.).

The second strand of Communicative Language Teaching developed from the idea that if students get enough exposure to language and opportunities for its use – and if they are motivated – then language learning will take care of itself. In other words, the focus of much communicative language teaching became what we have called Activation, and Study tended to be downplayed to some extent.

Communicative Language Teaching has had a thoroughly beneficial effect since it reminded teachers that people learn languages not so that they ‘know’ them, but so that they can communicate. Giving students different kinds of language, pointing them to aspects of style and appropriacy, and above all giving them opportunities to try out real language within the classroom humanised what had sometimes been too regimented. Above all, it stressed the need of Activation and allowed us to consider boomerang and patchwork-type lessons where before they tended to be less widely used.

Debate still continues, of course. Recent theory and practice have included: the introduction of Discovery activities (where students are asked to ‘discover’ facts about language for themselves rather than have the teacher or the book tell them; the Lexical Approach in which it is argued that words and phrases are far better building blocks for language than grammatical structure, classroom stages being given new names to help us describe teaching and learning in different ways; and the study of the difference between spoken and written language to suggest different activities and content on language courses.

Whichever way of describing language teachers prefer, the three elements described here Engage, Study and Activate – are the basic building blocks for successful language teaching and learning. By using them in different and varied sequences, teachers will be doing their best to promote their students’ success.

2) Transcribe and pronounce correctly the following words:

debate, audio-lingualism, behaviour, behaviourism, behaviourist, acquire, viola, violin, brochure, boomerang, appropriate, appropriacy, exposure, benefit, beneficial.

3) Find the English equivalents for the following in the text:

постоянные споры, формирование обусловленного навыка, выйти из моды, столкнуться с проблемой/трудностью, путеводитель, уместность, приуменьшать, строго регламентировать, подчёркивать необходимость чего-л.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29